


Cooking Lesson

by GoggleLad



Category: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Canon-Typical Cooking, Cooking, F/F, Fluff, Konoha and Hazuki are sisters, change my mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24284698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoggleLad/pseuds/GoggleLad
Summary: Nanaka will go to any lengths to achieve her objectives.  She'll lie and scheme to defeat her enemies.  She'll risk her own life to protect her allies.To protect Hazuki, she'll take on her greatest challenge yet: teaching Konoha how to cook.
Relationships: Nanaka Tokiwa & Konoha Shizumi, Tokiwa Nanaka/Yusa Hazuki
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Cooking Lesson

Hazuki was out at the hardware store when the call came. Ayame had gotten a little too enthusiastic yesterday when she was telling them about the game she’d been playing with Felicia, so now Hazuki was picking up some tools to fix up the furniture that had been damaged (it was fine, Konoha had budgeted for this sort of thing). Speaking of which, it was Ayame herself that was calling now… Hazuki was going to the grocery store after this, so maybe Ayame had thought of something else to buy there?

It was with that naive thought that Hazuki answered the phone.

“ _Hazuki! Hazuki, it’s bad! Where are you, where are you?”_

“It’s okay, Ayame, just calm down,” Hazuki said soothingly. “I’m still at the hardware store. What’s wrong?” Was it a witch attack? If it was close to home then it would take a while to get there, but she could call in back-up from some other girls in the area…

“ _It’s an emergency! Hazuki, you have to come home! It’s Konoha, Konoha, Konoha is, she’s…!”_

Hazuki felt fear sprout within her heart. “Is Konoha cooking again? I told her I’d be back in time to make dinner.” If that was the case, this really was an emergency. She could skip the grocery store for tonight, they should still be fine if she went tomorrow, it was more important to get home before Ayame could be subjected to Konoha’s cooking.

“ _No, that’s not it! I mean, wait wait, yeah, she is cooking, but that isn’t it! That isn’t it, Hazuki! It’s, it’s… It’s that girl! Nanaka, she’s here right now!”_

Alarm bells blared in Hazuki’s head. Forget the grocery store, forget the tools, this was a top priority emergency. Nanaka was at their apartment, while Konoha was there, without Hazuki to mediate? She could only pray that the building was still standing when she arrived. “I’ll be there as soon as I can! Just hang on until I get there!”

* * *

Nanaka schooled her thoughts and expression before knocking on the door. She was ready for this. She had conducted a thorough intelligence campaign in preparation for this day, she had readied all the materials that she would need, she had gone over every possible sequence of events that could follow.

Konoha opened the door, her expression cooling to subzero temperatures the moment she laid eyes on her visitor. “Nanaka Tokiwa.” Her greeting was given in an icy tone of voice normally reserved for threatening someone with a fate worse than death. “If you’re looking for Hazuki, I’m afraid I must inform you that she is out right now.” Her expression clearly stated that if Nanaka asked if she could wait here until Hazuki returned then they would come to blows.

“Konoha Shizumi,” Nanaka greeted back with a forced attempt at pleasantness. “That’s fine. I’m not looking for Hazuki.” In fact, Nanaka had specifically planned to do this while Hazuki was away from the apartment. She certainly would have attempted to stop Nanaka from doing this.

“Then what are you doing here?” Konoha asked, eyes narrowing.

This was it. The critical moment. Nanaka held up the grocery bag she was holding and smiled.

“I’m here to teach you how to cook.”

“…”

The statement was enough of a surprise that it actually wiped Konoha’s visible dislike of Nanaka off the older girl’s face for a few moments, though of course it was quickly replaced by suspicion. “Why?”

“Because you’re a danger to yourself and others.” Nanaka did her level best to keep her tone, if not pleasant, then at least not actively judgmental. “As a fellow magical girl, it would be irresponsible if I were to allow Ayame and Hazuki to continue being exposed to this threat.”

Now Konoha actually seemed angry, although it was mixed with at least equal parts embarrassment. “You’re exaggerating. My cooking isn’t _that_ bad...”

“You and Hazuki missed class last week because you were hospitalized for food poisoning.” Hazuki had tried to dance around the issue, change the subject, laugh it off, but it was terrifying to consider how bad the food must have been to send a pair of _magical girls_ to the hospital. “A reliable source tells me that Ayame has blacked out from your cooking on more than one occasion. Manaka Kurumi still shows signs of trauma when questioned about your time in her cooking class.”

“Okay, I get it.” There was still some anger in her tone, but it was mostly sullen embarrassment now. Good, the worst case scenario had been averted. “...Did Hazuki put you up to this?”

“Not at all.” It seemed that Konoha was still assuming that Nanaka was doing this for Hazuki, which… wasn’t exactly wrong, though it was Nanaka’s idea and Hazuki would have certainly been against it. Nanaka wasn’t precisely sure how much Hazuki had told Konoha about their relationship. Nanaka wasn’t even entirely certain that _she_ knew exactly what her relationship with Hazuki was. Most of their conversations communicated as much in what was unsaid as what was spoken. They were… not quite dating, exactly. Neither of them had ever said anything about romance out loud. They just did a lot of going to the movies together, and going out to dinner together, and getting coffee together, going flower viewing together, and… Okay, so they were clearly dating, but they didn’t talk about that, and it wasn’t precisely a secret, but it also wasn’t really any of Konoha’s business. Which of course meant that Konoha was very suspicious of it all.

Hazuki, of course, ever the reliable negotiator, always tried to keep everything diplomatic. She didn’t ever bring up the subject of Konoha’s cooking, and when Nanaka brought up the subject she would always pull her little trick of trying to redirect the conversation, and she’d make light of the matter. She’d done everything she could to avoid a confrontation between Nanaka and Konoha over the matter.

...Unless that was all part of a cunning plan to get Nanaka to do _exactly this_ , while making it seem like Nanaka’s idea the whole time. The sudden idea hit Nanaka so hard that she almost forgot what she was doing. She was fairly certain that it wasn’t the case, but… That would be such a quintessentially Hazuki-style ploy, it was scary that she couldn’t quite rule it out.

“...You really think you can help me with cooking?” Konoha asked, and the question shocked Nanaka out of her thoughts. It was a much more timid and vulnerable question than she had ever expected from Konoha. She really was desperate enough to accept help from someone that she didn’t get along with.

“I may not be an accomplished chef, but I’m patient and unyielding.” She smiled. “If you’re willing to learn, I _will_ teach you.”

Konoha frowned, then finally relented. “Very well. Come in, we’ll get started.”

Nanaka followed Konoha into the apartment. It was surprisingly clean and nicely furnished, aside from a chair with a curiously broken leg and some suspect scuffing on the couch.

The youngest member of family looked up from her spot at the table. “Konoha! Who was at the door Konoha? Was it Kako? Was it Felicia? They didn’t tell me they were gonna come over, but, but...” She trailed off as she set eyes on Nanaka.

“Hello Ayame,” Nanaka greeted politely. The girl was a bit rambunctious, but otherwise a good child. Kako got along well with her, and she was a key part of the Azaleas’ battle formation.

“Uh… Um… Uh...”

“Ayame, dear, we’re going to be using the kitchen for a bit,” Konoha said with motherly tenderness.

“Huh? Um, okay. Then, I’ll just, I’ll just, I’ll play a game in the other room.”

“Did you finish your homework yet?” Konoha asked with motherly sternness.

“Oh! I’ll just do that, then. In the other room.”

Nanaka set the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and removed a folded slip of paper from the bag. “This is your recipe for today,” she explained, passing the paper to Konoha.

Konoha unfolded the paper, eyes quickly scanning its contents. “Fried rice?”

“It’s a _simple_ fried rice recipe,” Nanaka stressed. “Nothing complicated. No flourishes, no cleverness. As long as you follow the recipe correctly, you should get the correct result.”

“Right,” Konoha said with a slight nod, her eyes still on the page. “This shouldn’t be hard.” She set the page on the counter and opened a drawer, right away pulling out–

“What are you doing?” Nanaka asked, trying not to be _too_ sharp with her tone.

Konoha looked surprised. “I was getting some spice to add,” she stated as though it were obvious.

But why on Earth would she be adding _cinnamon_? Nanaka sighed. “Konoha, I implore you. Follow the instructions, and do NOT attempt to add any steps that aren’t called for.”

Konoha frowned at that. “But without spices it’ll be too plain–”

“You need to be able to walk before you can run,” Nanaka cut her off. “A plain dish is better than an inedible dish. Once you have a grasp of the basics, _then_ you can start experimenting with improvements.”

Konoha _hmph_ ed and reluctantly put the cinnamon away.

“Now. Let’s get started.”

* * *

“Wait, hold on a moment. What are you doing?”

“I’m adding more water. We need to make sure the rice isn’t too dry.”

“One cup rice, two cups water. It’s right there in the instructions.”

“There’s no way that’s enough.”

“Please, Konoha. Just follow the recipe.”

* * *

“Stop, stop!”

“What is it now?”

“Konoha, is that really how you learned to hold a kitchen knife?”

“Of course. I’ve practiced with wielding all manner of weapons, just in case of an emergency. If someone were to go after Ayame and Hazuki in a situation where I wasn’t able to use my magic, I would be able to exterminate the attacker using any item in this room.”

“Konoha, those carrots are _not_ going to attack. Here, allow me to demonstrate the correct way to elegantly chop vegetables...”

* * *

“Ugh, the egg broke again!”

“You don’t need to use so much force to crack eggs. Use a lighter touch, and try again.”

“This one broke too.”

“Show some restraint. Eggs are not witches, you are not trying to destroy them. You’re able to use a pencil without destroying it, you should be able to crack eggs.”

“...It broke. Again.”

“...Very well. We have plenty of time before the rice finishes. If we need to have an entire training session about how to apply the _correct_ amount of force, so be it. Even if we have to go through the entire carton of eggs, I _will_ have you learn this technique.”

“...There goes another one.”

“...”

“...”

“...Even if I have to run to the store and buy more eggs, I _will_ have you learn this technique.”

* * *

“PUT THAT CAN AWAY, SHIZUMI!”

“NO! THE RECIPE IS WRONG! I NEED TO SAVE THIS DISH!”

“PUT THE CAN AWAY NOW! I WON’T LET YOU RUIN THE RICE WHEN WE’RE SO CLOSE!”

“THIS COLOR PALETTE IS UNACCEPTABLE! IT’S ALL WRONG, TOKIWA, BUT I’LL FIX IT! I’LL MAKE THIS A DISH THAT AYAME AND HAZUKI WILL LOVE!”

“STOP STRUGGLING AND JUST LET GO OF IT! PEOPLE THAT DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING SHOULD JUST STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN!”

* * *

“...And that’s it,” Nanaka said, slumping against the counter in exhaustion. “Just stir it together and you’re done.” She continued to keep a sharp eye on Konoha, certain that the girl would make another attempt to add in something unthinkable if she had even a moment without supervision.

“It… looks strange,” Konoha said with a frown as she stirred. “It isn’t black, and there aren’t any gooey lumpy bits.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

After a great deal of effort, Nanaka had managed to successfully coach Konoha through the entire process of preparing fried rice. The girl’s kitchen techniques were nonexistent, requiring guidance in carrying out even the simplest of instructions, but worse than that was that she had opinions about how every single step could be done better, and she would attempt to act on these opinions despite every request not to unless Nanaka actively caught her in the act and forced her to stop.

The problem, Nanaka had decided, was that Konoha simply had too much self-assurance. By all means, she was an incredibly talented young woman. She got top marks in class, she was nearly untouchable in battle, she handled all the finances for her family, she was athletic, good-looking, and to hear Hazuki tell of it she could accomplish just about anything that she put her mind to. But she lacked common sense, and would barrel forward with whatever ridiculous ideas she had about cooking without stopping to question the validity of her opinions. She’d probably be alright if she knew anything about cooking, but because she’d never finished cooking a meal without turning it into a crime against humanity she’d never picked up on the fundamentals. And she was too certain that she was always correct to listen to any suggestions that conflicted with her misguided culinary ideas.

“...Hey, Nanaka,” Konoha spoke up quietly as she slowly stirred the other ingredients into the rice. “Just what is Hazuki to you?”

“She’s the liaison between our teams,” Nanaka replied immediately, instinctively deflecting. She regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth. That’s not what Konoha was looking for, and there wasn’t any audience here for her to be presenting a collected facade to.

Indeed, Konoha seemed angry, though she restrained herself well. “Is that all?” she she asked with considerable acid in her tone.

Nanaka let the question hang in the air while she considered it carefully. As a general rule, she avoided presenting genuine vulnerability. There wasn’t any need for anyone to see that, it wasn’t… it wasn’t elegant, wasn’t beautiful. She was always cognizant of the face that she showed to others, and while she might relax control somewhat around the people that she trusted most, that wasn’t a category that included Konoha Shizumi.

But… Hazuki trusted Konoha. And if Konoha was going to trust Nanaka, she might have to make some sacrifices.

“No,” she admitted. “It isn’t. Hazuki is...” She almost said _just like me_ , but that probably wouldn’t go over well with Konoha, and wasn’t really accurate. Nanaka manipulated people as naturally as breathing, she’d been called a planner, a schemer, and a lot worse, but Hazuki was more of a… a _social engineer_ , she got people to do what she wanted while thinking it was their idea all along. “...she’s the first person I’ve found that might… actually understand me. She’s someone that I can connect with on a personal level. She’s someone that I enjoy spending time with, even when it doesn’t serve a greater purpose.” She took a deep breath, then looked Konoha right in the eyes and went on the attack. “I understand that you are unable to give up on overcoming your weaknesses, and so you’re driven to continue attempting to achieve mastery of the culinary arts in spite of successive failures. Understand that _I_ refuse to allow Hazuki to suffer any further from the consequences of your disastrous cooking. You and I have never gotten along very well, but that’s a conviction that you can understand, is it not?”

Konoha held Nanaka’s gaze and nodded solemnly. “Very well. In return, if you hurt Hazuki I will end you.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“Then it’s fine for now.”

The room got quiet after that. Eventually Nanaka put on a smile, resolving to break the mood. “In that case, can I take it to mean that I have your blessing?”

Konoha stiffened for a moment before plastering on a menacing fake smile. “I don’t know about a blessing, but I’d be happy to conduct your funeral rites any time~” she shot back in a faux-playful voice.

The sound of a door slamming open forestalled any further back-and-forth. “I’m home!” Hazuki called out. “Sorry, ran into some trouble with the groceries, I’ll have to go back tomorrow. Oh, Nanaka! What are you doing here?”

It was a performance that Nanaka saw through at once. Hazuki’s acting was a bit too forced, and though she tried to hide it she was slightly out of breath. She wouldn’t usually be so sloppy, so how much of a panic had she been in to rush back like this? It was… rather endearing, really. It was funny. It was cute. Nanaka couldn’t help herself, she giggled at this absurd scene.

More laughter erupted a moment later as Konoha joined in, the two of them caught up in hysterics while Hazuki just watched, dumbfounded. “Uh… Did I say something funny?”

“It’s nothing,” Konoha managed to say, getting herself back under control. “Nanaka came over to help me in the kitchen. I think this rice actually turned out quite well.”

“Oh.” Hazuki wasn’t quite able to hide her surprise in that single word, and her eyes darted back and forth between Konoha and Nanaka a few times before she put on a smile. “Well, that’s great! Thanks for that, Nanaka!”

“Yes, thank you,” Konoha agreed, and she even sounded sincere. “Hm… Will you be staying for dinner?”

Nanaka blanked her face in surprise before she could school her expression into something more thoughtful. “I didn’t have any intentions of intruding on a family dinner. Since my work here is done, I thought it was just about time I was off...”

Konoha frowned slightly. “You helped with this meal. You should stay.”

A look of incredulity crossed Hazuki’s face for a moment before becoming a wide grin. “Yeah, you should have dinner with us! It’ll be fun.”

Ayame burst into both the room and the conversation. “Whoa, whoa! Nanaka’s staying for dinner?”

Konoha nodded to herself. “Yes. I think… it’s about time that we all got to know her a bit better.”

“Well then, I can hardly refuse,” Nanaka said with a genuine smile.

“Well then, you all get washed up while I get the food served up,” Konoha instructed, going into mothering mode. Nanaka lingered in the kitchen, keeping watch until the food was properly served to make sure that Konoha didn’t make any weird last-minute additions. Just in case.

Soon they were all gathered around the table (they’d had to pull out an extra chair, since they’d only had three at the table), provided with bowls of fried rice that actually looked quite passable. “Thanks for the food!” Ayame shouted enthusiastically, the rest of them echoing less loudly.

“Hold on just a moment,” Nanaka spoke up, getting Ayame to pause with her spoon halfway to her mouth. She raised her own spoon and met Konoha’s eyes. “This is probably being overly cautious, but just to be safe, I’d like to take the first bite.” The faces around the table all turned guarded, familiar with the usual aftermath of Konoha’s infamous cooking.

Still, this fried rice looked perfectly fine. There was probably nothing to worry about. She’d been very careful to keep watch on Konoha during the entire process, after all.

She raised the spoon to her lips and took a bite.

Hm. This wasn’t so–

The world spun as Nanaka choked, her body violently rejecting what she’d put into her mouth. Her vision blurred, and she could feel her soul gem flaring up to try to repair the damage she’d just sustained.

What.

“Nanaka!” There were frantic voices around her, bodies moving, but she had difficulty parsing the jumble. “What happened? Nanaka!”

This was absurd. She’d been so careful, there was no way Konoha could have messed up the meal preparation. Either that girl was actually cursed to magically ruin any food she touched, or… or this was a deliberate attempted poisoning that Konoha had enacted against her, or… or…

Her eyes locked onto the bowl of fried rice. No, not the fried rice, but the bowl, and the spoon. If there was nothing wrong with the rice, then… “The… dishes...” she managed to utter.

“The dishes?” A fuzzy voice. Konoha, maybe? “No, that can’t be. I used them for my last, um, creation, sure, but I was very careful to scour them clean afterward! I used all of our cleaning products, even that bottle under the sink.”

“Konoha, that was rat poison!” a horrified voice shouted as Nanaka’s sight went dark. “What else did you put in those bowls?! Hang in there, Nanaka! Nanaka!”

* * *

Nanaka’s eyes opened slowly. Her body was heavy, her head felt like it was stuffed full of wool, and she had a vile taste in her mouth. She was alive and conscious, though. And she seemed to be lying on something soft. Her glasses were missing, but those were mostly just for show now anyway. Her eyes focused, revealing Hazuki’s face above her.

“Hey there, sleeping beauty,” Hazuki said softly. She was cradling Nanaka’s head on her lap, running her fingers gently through Nanaka’s hair. It was… very intimate. It was… nice. “How are you feeling?”

“Hm… I think my pride is injured. A magical girl, defeated by a spoonful of fried rice.”

Hazuki laughed gently. It was a wonderful sound, Nanaka decided. She found that her hand had ended up caressing Hazuki’s cheek, without any conscious direction on her part.

“Rest as long as you need,” Hazuki told her. “You got hit with a real whammy there.”

“Mm. At least you’re okay.” She moved her head slightly, scanning the room. Hazuki had apparently relocated her to the couch while she was unconscious. “Where is Konoha?” She didn’t see Ayame either, but Konoha was her bigger concern. She wasn’t sure that Konoha would much approve of… _this_ , that she was doing with Hazuki right now.

“She’s in her room.” Hazuki’s smile turned a bit mischievous. “I talked her into letting me handle… ‘negotiating’. I think she’s worried that you’ll declare war or something as retaliation for an attempt on your life.”

Nanaka snorted. “Of course not,” she murmured. “I’m not done giving her lessons yet, either. I’ll make sure that next time is a success.”

Hazuki’s expression turned amused, and a bit curious. Nanaka deliriously thought that she wouldn’t mind watching her expressions all day. “You’re that invested in teaching her how to cook, are you?”

“Of course,” she answered, words spilling out without being parsed by her brain. “It’s an opening I can use. I need to get along with your family if I’m going to be together with you.”

Surprise bloomed across Hazuki’s face, followed by a beautiful smile. “You _must_ be feeling out of it to admit that so easily. Rest for now, Nanaka. Just relax...”

Nanaka acquiesced, closing her eyes as she listened to Hazuki’s soothing voice. Things had not worked out quite as she had planned, but for now she felt warm and… content. Her last thought before she drifted off was that she wouldn’t mind getting used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> I set out to write a cute story about Nanaka and Hazuki, and somehow spent most of it about Nanaka and Konoha trying to be friendly. Oh well, it was fun, I don't regret it.


End file.
